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SONICFLOOd's Jeff Deyo on How to Share the REAL Gospel

This is the third in our special series of essays on Worship from {{SONICFLOOd}}'s Jeff Deyo here in Musician Resources on the Music Channel at crosswalk.com.

Jesus didn't die to take away our sins. God isn't this guy who hates sin (or us for that matter). God is someone who wants to BE WITH us. God delights in us. The problem with sin is not sin itself. The problem with sin is that it keeps us from God (separation). God is holy and can't be around sin. God doesn't want to just get rid of our sin. He wants to RESTORE His relationship with us. In order to restore our relationship with God, sin must be gotten rid of. God took the first step toward RESTORING that relationship by entering our world. He wanted to enter our world, not just stay up in the sky pronouncing judgment on everyone. He shoved Himself into a human body, came to earth and got involved with us. He sent Jesus to die and take on all the sins of the world not to get rid of sin but to RESTORE His relationship with us.

Imagine how it hurt the heart of God for His Son to cry out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The reason it hurt God so much is because of His intimate relationship with His Son. The trinity is not some weird three in one thing. The trinity is the perfect example of unity between God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are so intensely unified that they become one in thought, word and deed. If God's people will line up in unity with each other by each individual following God, than we will all be ONE just like the in the trinity.

We each know what it is like to be in a broken relationship (divorce, breakups, fighting). That is a VERY painful place to be. That was how God felt both when His relationship with us was broken through sin and when His relationship with His Son was broken through Jesus carrying our sin. At that moment, Jesus and God were separated for the first time ever. That hurt deeply. But God and Jesus were willing to sacrifice so that our relationship with Him could be restored the way it was meant to be.

Somehow, we always focus on people's need to have their sins forgiven. While that is VERY important, there is a REASON it is important (a "WHY?"). The reason for us to get rid of sin is so we can once again BE WITH our Creator who very much wants to BE WITH us. This helps us understand God better. Zephaniah 3:17 says that the Lord has arrived to live among us. It says He is a mighty Savior and that He rejoices over us with great gladness. It says He will calm all our fears with His love and will exult over us by singing a happy song. I didn't know God sang, and I certainly didn't know He loved me THAT much! What a miracle!! We think miracles don't happen today. But I say that the greatest miracle is that God could love someone like me!!

He's not a God so concerned with SIN. He's more concerned with BEING WITH you and me. Sin Just stands in the way. That in turn makes us want to BE WITH Him all the more, especially because He took the first step (remember, we love Him because He first loved us.) His desire to be with us makes it so easy to love Him for He sings with His love for us! He doesn't sing because we're so great, but JUST BECAUSE He delights in His creation.

Restoration in our relationship to God and to others is the message of the Gospel, not that we are sinners. Which Gospel message is more appealing and more scriptural: "You need God" or "We need God and each other?" How about: "You are a sinner and God hates your sin" or "We've all sinned, but God wants to remove the sin that stands in the way of the relationship He longs to have with us?" God always points out His love for us before pointing out our sin. Proverbs 3:12 says the Lord disciplines those He loves. That means He has to love us BEFORE He can discipline us. 1 Corinthians 13 says that love is the greatest gift of all. When tongues and prophecy end, love will remain. Even among the gifts that will last (faith, hope and love), love is the greatest!!

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Read Jeff's second essay titled "Being a Lead Worshiper " in this Musician Resources series on The Music Channel at crosswalk.com. You will also find a link there to Jeff's first essay covering "Worship Evangelism."